


baby its cold outside

by aspentree



Category: Countdown to Countdown (Webcomic)
Genre: BEGONIA AND HEATHER, F/F, LETS GO LESBIANS, Lots of fluff!, M/M, Some Cursing, christmas up in these feels, happy holidays you all!!, iris is dumb and in love, lacrosse?? big sport hours, lillium is a fool, peep my writing style change bc i wrote some of this while half awake and full of eggnog, super glad i could be a part of this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 20:31:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17148617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aspentree/pseuds/aspentree
Summary: “Anyway.” He continued, marching on. “I think you’re amazing. I would follow you across the universe.”“You’re so cheesy.”“I think having you as my boyfriend, fake or real, is probably the best present I’ve ever gotten.” His voice got uncharacteristically soft, staring up at the tree behind them. Lillium’s face was awash with color, and Iris felt himself smile.“Yeah, me, too.”Iris squeezed his hand.“Merry Christmas, Iris.”





	baby its cold outside

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kiragenta](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=kiragenta).



> thank you so much for letting me participate in this event. happy holidays and a happy new year!

Iris counted himself lucky to be fake-dating Lillium White.

The most popular boy on the lacrosse team and the entire school, dominating both the academic and playing field. He was charming, though a bit strange, and had the easy sort of smile that made people fall in love with him from the moment they saw him. It made Iris wonder how the hell he had landed himself in this sort of situation.

Especially how he had managed to allow this idiot to drag him along to the winter festival in the town plaza.

“Don’t you think she’ll be here?” Iris shrieked as he was being tugged along the sidewalk, shoving his feet messily into his shoes. “Isn’t this whole outing what you said you didn’t want to do? Are you insane?”

“Insanely amazing!” Lillium replied, excitedly pulling on Iris’ sleeve. “Look, I don’t care whether or not Charlotte is here, she can kiss my ass. What matters is that it’s Saturday, it’s December, and I want to go out and have fun without her controlling what I say and do. And especially not having to carry her shopping bags at the mall. I think that’s what made me so strong.”

He didn’t even have a chance to respond before he was full-on sprinting with the most popular guy in school, tripping over his shoelaces, to the festival. The air smelled like caramel and spice, and the strange softness of snow. It was already snowing when he came outside of his house, but now it was slowing down to just a small dusting of fine snow.

“Two tickets, please,” the pink-haired male asked the woman at the ticket window. She took a long look at Iris, who was fidgeting and trying to tie his laces, before speaking.

“That’ll be ten dollars, please,” she said, sniffing. Her sharp, hooked nose reminded him of his seventh grade English teacher. Or a witch. Or possibly both in one horrible mix.

Lillium slid over the money without batting an infuriatingly perfect eyelash, allowing them access. The woman took the money, and stamped the shape of a pine tree onto their hands in black ink. As soon as it hit Iris’ skin, the ink started to run, the pine tree becoming more of a splotch.

They entered the festival without a second thought, the scarf wrapped around Iris’ neck whipping behind him in the slight wind. “I can’t believe you’re dragging me here, at five p.m. on a Saturday, to spend so much time with you.” He gave Lillium a glare, narrowing his eyes and looking away.

“Well, you signed the fake-dating contract back in October, remember? You said that you had to go to the winter festival with me in order to throw it into Charlotte’s face. We agreed on that.” And then the famous Lillium puppy-dog eyes.

Iris shrugged, curling his hands into the warmth of his coat pockets as they walked along the makeshift gravel path. “That was October.”

“Well, it’s December right now! It wasn’t that long ago.”

He couldn’t find the energy within himself to manage a witty response, just rollling his eyes as they walked, the cold breeze blowing at Lillium’s peach-pink hair. Iris silently wondered if it smelled like cotton candy.

After a while of walking in silence, they finally came up to the festival, booming with sound and laughter. Iris looked up from his shoes to meet Lillium’s gaze; and to no one’s surprise, a large banana-shaped smile curved across his face, the cold wind making his cheeks flush a tempting shade of pink. He could barely hold back a grin equally as large as the other boy’s, and instead sort of grimaced.

So much for trying to be smooth.

Iris decided to take the initiative and starting running down the hill they were standing on, skidding down so fast he could hardly stop himself. He haphazardly kicked up pebbles, shrieking a bit in surprise as Lillium came careening downwards behind him.

“ _MOVE OVER_!” Lillium screamed as Iris struggled to get out of the way.

He came flying down the hill, making Iris yelp as he crashed into a tree. Lillium bounced off of the bark with just a few scrapes and then fell backwards onto the snowdrift.

Iris caught up to him, breathless and panting, and pulled Lillium to his feet. “I swear to god, we are never doing that again.”

Lillium blinked blearily, snowflakes tangled into his eyelashes as he grinned. “That was singlehandedly one of the best decisions I have ever made.”

Iris couldn’t hold back his laugh now, giggling as Lillium brushed off his pants and jacket. He shook his head, trying not to smile. “Come on, let’s go. Weren’t we supposed to meet Begonia and Heather at the ferris wheel?”

“Oh, fuck. I forgot about Bologna and Heathen. They’re gonna kick my ass.” The color drained from his face. It was a little funny that a giant like Lillium was absolutely and wholly terrified by the kindest, sweetest girl in the entire universe.

But then again, she had been pretty scary when Iris borrowed one of her pens and forgot to give it back to her for two weeks.

Iris nudged his fake boyfriend gently in the ribs, sighing. “You’ll be fine. She won’t kill you yet, Lillium White.”

The other boy managed a weak smile, straightened, and then took Iris’ hand. “Come on, if we’re any more late then we’re surely guaranteed a slow, painful death.”

They walked together, breathing in the scent of caramel apples and cinnamon cider, their bootes crunching in more of the festival gravel. Silence weighed between them as they continued, finally approaching the ferris wheel. It was large, and painted bright red. The base was absolutely covered in Christmas lights and every single car was adorned with a wreath. At the top hung a single small piece of mistletoe, and Iris flushed a bright red at the sight.

Waiting for them was Begonia and Heather, the loverbirds themselves. Begonia was shoving an entire slice of cinnamon raisin bread into her mouth as Heather laughed, the beauty mark on her cheek rippling with her smile. Begonia’s eyes slid over to them and she swallowed the bread, straightening.

“ _Lillium W-Walter White!_ How n-nice of you to show up!” She shouted across the snow, grinning sheepishly.

Heather sized up Iris’ fidgeting and bright red blush. “And with your cute little boyfriend with you.”

Iris laughed, shaking his head. He didn’t even know these two girls very well, but he felt as if they knew his very soul.

Begonia grinned, brushing crumbs from her mouth. “You two are b-both so so late. We almost m-missed our ticket time.” She thrust two tickets for the ferris wheel towards Lillium, who took the tickets with a nervous grin. “Come on! Let’s go.”

Kids were hopping off of the ferris wheel and when it was all empty, the four of them rushed to get seated together. Iris was first wanting to sit with Begonia, but Heather grinned and shook her head.

“Go sit with Lillium. I think you’re the only person who can tolerate him at this point,” she had said, her dark hair swishing along her shoulders as she slipped past him, sitting down next to Begonia.

He shrugged and then headed over to sit with the Chosen One, who promptly tugged him to the seat. The ride operator buckled the two of them in, and started the ride after the cars were all filled.

The ground lurched away from them as they started to spin, Iris’ feet dangling in the air. He felt the blood drain from his face as they went higher and higher. He swallowed, feeling like something was stuck in his throat. The ride slowed to a stop, the two of them at the peak of the turn. Lillium’s cheeks were flushed with joy, and he turned to Iris. “Isn’t this great? It’s so pretty from up here.”

Iris gaped at him before coughing. “Yeah. It’s...pretty.”

Lillium laughed, and suddenly Iris could feel his heart pound in his chest. His toes curled inside his shoes. How come one person’s smile could make him this happy? Witchcraft.

After all, they were only fake dating. None of what he was feeling was real.

Right?

He felt Lillium’s hand brush against his own gently, and his heart jumped in his chest. “Jesus Christ, Iris, you’re so jumpy,” he laughed as his cheeks flushed a deep red.

Heather hooted from underneath them. “Kiss! Kiss!”

Then came Begonia’s scream of terror. “H-Heather! Stop r-rocking the car!”

Lillium looked at Iris through tufts of peach colored hair, a sly smile crossing his lips. “I know we said we wouldn’t kiss each other, but...let’s make an exception tonight, okay?”

“An exception? What do you—“ He started before all the air was sucked out of his lungs by his kiss.

Everything seemed to pass by in a blur, senses hyperaware of everything that was happening. The swirl of snow, the fluttering of his own lashes against his cheeks. The roughness of Lillium’s hands against his own, worn from years of lacrosse. And then he broke the kiss, his eyes blown wide.

“Lillium, what are you doing?” He asked, chewing on his lip.

He said nothing, just shrugging and giving him one of the widest grins he had ever seen.

After the ride, Begonia had tugged them to the food area. Thankfully the food was free, so Lillium immediately scarfed down a thousand pastries. Iris had just settled for a cup of cider, his breath turning to mist in the Seattle cold. The cup warmed his hands, and he took delicate sips of it as Christmas carols rang in the distance. 

Lillium’s lips curved into another of his infamous smiles, showing off his singular chipped tooth. “What’re you looking at?”

Fuck, he was staring.

“Oh, nothing. Sorry, just sort of spaced out.” He said with the most nonchalant smile he could offer, seeking to make his expression look as ordinary and as bland as possible. Besides, this whole outing was just for show anyway, so what was the point on trying to confess his feelings tonight? It was nearly Christmas Eve; not the greatest time to be rejected by your crush of about three years.

Lillium blinked and shrugged. “Well, if you say so.”

Begonia and Heather ran back over to say goodbye. “We really would stay longer but I’ve got to head over to Begonia’s house to celebrate. You two have fun,” Heather said, hugging them both. Iris couldn’t help but smile. Heather was one great girl.

Begonia wringed her wrists nervously. “Yeah. It’s the official M-Meet My Parents day, you know? It’s important. I’m r-really sorry to have to leave so early.”

“No, it’s fine.” Lillium assured her, patting the top of her head. “Besides, I can’t have my beloved Bologna skipping out on her girlfriend’s parents. That would be really sad.”

Iris smiled. For someone so thick-skulled, Lillium could be pretty caring. If only his grades were as good as his compassion for others.

They both watched in silence as the two left, waving them off. Behind them, the large Christmas tree that the town had set up for the festival had lit up in dazzling colors, illuminating their faces in light.

“It kinda sucks that I’m doing this right now, but I felt like I really needed to say something.” Iris found himself blurting, hugging his arms close to his body from the chill. “I know I swore I never liked you in the past, and that I’m just doing this because of Charlotte, but that was a huge, massive lie. I’ve liked you for a really long time. Ever since you took me to the hospital after Jem hit me in the eye during one of your lacrosse matches in middle school, I’ve liked you.”

“That was the most awkward ambulance ride I’ve ever been in,” Lillium agreed.

“But what I’m trying to say is fuck Charlotte. Fuck what Liberty High thinks about you. Fuck what your parents think. I want to be with you and not in some cheesy fake relationship that only happens in movies.”

Lillium grinned a bit wider as if the entirety of the universe’s secrets had just been told to him (never trust him with any sort of important knowledge, because he’ll forget it anyway—but that’s not the point. Iris is terrible at metaphors). “Yeah, that was kind of the point. Iris, even if you’re literally the geekiest kid I’ve ever known, you’re pretty cool. You tutor me in calculus and you doodle all the time. You get this serious look on your face whenever you talk to me about what you like. Sometimes I think that I’ve met someone amazing.”

“You _think_? Okay, no, that was rude.”

“Anyway.” He continued, marching on. “I think you’re amazing. I would follow you across the universe.”

“You’re so cheesy.”

“I think having you as my boyfriend, fake or real, is probably the best present I’ve ever gotten.” His voice got uncharacteristically soft, staring up at the tree behind them. Lillium’s face was awash with color, and Iris felt himself smile.

“Yeah, me, too.”

Iris squeezed his hand.

“Merry Christmas, Iris.”


End file.
